Tag Archives: Blackguards

Blackguards 2 is the sequel to Blackguards, a turn-based strategy role playing game (loving referred to as SRPG by some of the sub-genre’s longest running fans). As you may recall, our Blackguards Review contained mostly praise for the game, which comes out of a studio that takes a lot of pride in their work, but we also noted many areas of improvement we wanted to see addressed. Daedalic Entertainment released Video Overview #1 for the upcoming sequel a couple of weeks ago opening the dialogue with gamers as to what is changed in the new title. Today we get the second edition of that which talks about the monsters found in the new game while showing off some gameplay as well. Developer diaries are often the best way to gain the vision behind a franchise or even an individual game mechanic. If you’re any amount of interested in SRPG games or Blackguards 2 itself, we highly recommend hearing what the team behind the series has to say about its latest incarnation.

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With Blackguards, Daedalic Entertainment have created a game that is not easy to get into but unlocks tons of fun and satisfying gameplay for hardcore role playing game fans who are able to master its control set and user interface. If those don’t scare you off, then you’re in for a treat. Blackguards rewards players with a decent story, great battles, and an easy on the eyes experience that easily stands out in its genre.

Blackguards is a tactical role playing game that takes place on a grid with each square representing a slot for the player-controlled characters as well as enemies to move onto and perform actions on. Items on the grid are also able to be interacted with such as boxes to set on fire and on at least one occasion rope to be cut causing a chandelier to fall on opponents. Sometimes players have to close up nests of enemies while other times for an additional example. Enemies range greatly as the story progresses and vary in strengths and weaknesses causing players to rethink their strategy at all times. It’s easy to try the battle again if you fail, and sometimes this game will make you feel dumb – but persevere and it will all be worth it in the end.

This is a game that requires real tactics, and real thinking. Everything in the battles that are presented is based on what’s practical. Characters with ranged abilities need to be kept back while higher defense and physically-oriented characters run up on enemies for up-close action. Sometimes enemies can knock you down, use items on the battlefield, or prompt other unexpected events that keep the player feeling a sense of anticipation breaking any sort of monotony from forming.

Players must set up equipment before in between battles and can’t use the inventory screen during battles. Taking a rest between scenes is possible provided they have enough of the necessary provisions remaining. this will restore all characters to full health and restore their vitality. Switching between weapon sets mid-battle will take up a turn, but means that players have a diverse set of options to use while reacting to the sometimes rapidly thinking, highly tactical artificial intelligence. On the belt, players bring a few items such as bandages to have characters heal each other as well as Astral Potions for regaining energy to cast spells with.

Commands are given to each character using a wheel of options brought up by right clicking the mouse button on a grid and then selecting a section as well as sub-selection within it. Hot keys can also be set for the most common and favored attacks. Using the controls and interface can be a little challenging at first but once players get the hang of things they’ll be glad they did. This title has a lot to offer for true role playing game fans of the turn-based variety.

The main narrative of the game, which I described briefly in our Hands-On Preview of Blackguards back in december, is appended by optional side-quests, dialogue choices based on which character in your party you’d like to participate in the discussion at hand, towns with equipment, gambling, tall tales, and often more.

Speaking again on the few negative points of the title, and where the developers need to focus on improving if they ever attempt another Tactical RPG (or Strategy RPG depending which term you prefer), a few times it became difficult to select the right tile that I wanted to interact with. The user interface needs work in a few ways and that is one of them. While the camera angles presented are definitely interesting and beautiful to look at, the inability to rotate the view seemed odd since the 3D visuals seem to be fully fleshed out suggesting that the feature could have been there. Although the characters are not voice acted extremely well, the overall writing of the game’s story-line has many moments that feel sparse in excitement and pretty typical.

The plot has potential, and it could have been done worse, but while it doesn’t come off as particularly “bad” – some players will be unable to find immersion with Blackguards. The storytelling pace is good and all efforts to give each battle plenty of pre-text and context are successful, but the voice acting certainly could have been a lot more gripping and would have provided a better experience for the player if it were.

That being said, the gameplay is exciting and fun enough to propel this title passed its faults. I found myself getting lost in the accumulation of equipment, side-questing for money to buy better weapons / armor / items, and mastering different types of battle scenarios using a wide range of tactics and strategies that began to feel like a Madden playbook for the turn-based, grid-centered RPG universe.

The upgrade system in Blackguards adds a lot of replay value as well and extends gameplay hours significantly. The type of player that gets into RPG systems won’t be let down here as there are several different categories to level up and players can even expedite learning from teachers found along the journey. Skill base values, Weapon Talents, Talent Levels, Spells, and Special Abilities can be gained and customized for each character in the game. This combined with the mid-battle swapping of equipment setups and the hot-key behaviors eventually allows the player to clear their mind of micro-management and focus on being the ultimate strategist under pressure.

Final Verdict:

Blackguards is one of the few shining examples of how modern turn-based gaming should be in a tactical role playing game. Though once I had gotten used to it I can’t imagine the user interface being any different, it took some effort to really flow quickly and intuitively within the control system presented. Perhaps a better approach could have been taken with that. The voice acting does little to convince and the story can be mediocre at times, but overall it gets the player where they need to go and provides a decent backdrop for the real meat of the sandwich, which is of course the tactical battles therein.

Visually the game has moments that are stunning, animations that are very professionally crafted and polished, and never manages to look bad. The audio quality feels polished as well, with no bugs experienced from the game engine and load times in the final build zooming incredibly fast. Blackguards is what Tactical RPG fans want from life, and is well worth the asking cost. This is a high quality product that has come a long way since its early build showing the dedication, work ethic, and skill level of Daedalic Entertainment. Blackguards gets an 8.75 out of 10 from RealGamerNewz earning it the RGN Silver Game Rating.

Official Trailer:

Official Score: 8.75/10

RGN Rating: Silver Game

Developer / Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment

Available On: PC | Mac OS X

Played On: Windows PC

Review Copy Info: A digital copy of the game was provided to RealGamerNewz by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

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Check out our Blackguards Hands-On Preview if you haven’t already, and look for the title to release on Windows PC as well as Mac OS X platforms January 24, 2014 from Daedalic Entertainment. Below is a Full 1080P High Definition video on Blackguards detailing the character classes found in the game and guiding players in Character Class Selection.

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Deadalic Entertainments continues to update Blackguard Early Access (our hands-on Preview Here) with more chapters. Earlier this week, chapter 4 was released for download. Deadalic will continue to add more chapters into Blackguard until the official release

Available for $24.99 is the Standard Early Access Edition of Black Guards. Or players can purchase the Early Access Deluxe Edition for $34.99 which includes a 150 page artbook, and access to developer interview videos with six exclusive wallpapers. The Blackguard Early Access Contributor Edition is priced at $49.99; It includes an appearance of the buyer’s name within the game’s credits, as well as the first Blackguards DLC and a copy of the The Dark Eye point & click adventure Chains of Satinav for free.

All the editions includes all chapters for PC as they become available, and the full PC and Mac versions after the official release.

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In Blackguards players start off on the wrong side of the law with little to no understanding of what was reality and what was fantasy. The main character witnesses a strange wolf, which almost seems possessed, killing a princess he knew well and was sworn to protect. When he’s killed the beast though the princess lays on the ground with blood all around her and there is now no wolf to be seen. The player is discovered and amongst the confusion hears a voice whisper out to him. Taking the blame for what happened, unsure of who is really responsible for what happened, and tortured in the pain of imprisonment both within his mind as well as literally Blackguards begins with the player on a quest for answers.

Blackguards is available right now for gamers to jump into for themselves on Steam’s Early Access program and is developed by the team who created Memoria (our review here) also known as Daedalic Entertainment. The dark and somber style of this title’s main character is quickly offset by the brute-ish and sometimes funny spirit of his cellmates who together stage a prison break. Gameplay in this title is that of a very fine-tuned Strategy RPG with special attacks, magical spells, environmental actions, and a grid for movement. Graphically this title does well to provide an immersive experience as the artists within Daedalic have chosen a certain Art Direction that has players feeling eerie and always on the run from evil, as well as towards vanquishing foes that might stand in their way.

Daedalic Entertainment has come out recently and stated that while the title is up for grabs on Steam Early Access the January 2014-scheduled final build will incorporate changes based on community feedback. The team is dedicated to listening to consumer and fan demand and input on the way the gameplay mechanics are fleshed out, so if you’d like to be a part of that process you can definitely join in. When the final product launches it will be available for Windows PC and Mac OS X platforms at $39.99 with a special edition available for just ten bucks more including an Art Book and more. As for Early Access members the discount for supporting the game early puts the title at $24.99 total with a $34.99 Deluxe Edition available as well including exclusive content and Art Book. Take a look at the official trailer, dev diary, and early access feedback response video below for a closer look at it and we encourage fans of the Tactical RPG genre to give it a try for themselves as well.

Official 1080P Video Of Work-In-Progress Game:

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Silence: The Whispered World 2 by developer / publisher Daedalic Entertainment behind Memoria (our review here) as well as Blackguards (our preview coming soon) has a Windows PC and Mac OS X Late 2014 targeted release window and received the following teaser trailer today presented by RealGamerNewz and our video partners in Full 1080P High Definition automatically below.

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If you’re anything like me then turn-based RPG is just something classic that can never be replaced by the awesome new flood of Action RPG styles we’ve seen gush into the industry over the past decade. There’s just something methodical and intriguing about turn-based that I will never turn my back on (bad pun, you caught me). Anyways, Blackguards has now received Chapter 3 in its Steam Early Access and you can jump in right now at this link. This is from the same crew who brought you all Memoria (our review here) and you can find a little teaser of the title below in Full 1080P High Definition.

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Blackguards from Daedalic Entertainment is one of the upcoming role playing games we’ve been keeping our eyes on here at RealGamerNewz and today it was announced that the title will hit Steam’s Early Access program on November 7, 2013. Players will get a discount on the game as well as be able to play early. There’s even an Early Access Deluxe Edition planned which would come with an art book of 150 pages, developer interviews, and exclusive wallpaper images.

For a little more investment, the Blackguards Early Access Contributor Edition is even more ambitious offering players a spot in the credits, the first DLC for free, and a copy of The Dark Eye as well as Chains of Satinav. Check out the High Definition preview created by YOGSCAST Hannah with a complete interview featuring Daedalic Entertainment if you’re interested in seeing something more of Blackguards and can’t wait.

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If you haven’t heard about it yet, Daedalic Entertainment (the development team who created Memoria) are putting together a brand new turn-based role playing game based on the Dark Eye universe. In Blackguards an unlikely team of anti-heroes are all that mankind has left to rely upon. More information is expected to become available as the new release date for Blackguards approaches. This game is currently expected to release January 2014 for Windows PC.

Editor’s Note: RealGamerNewZ has moved web servers, some older posts can no longer be commented on and have been preserved without their images. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. This article was written by Jon Ireson on 20131016 and was last modified on 20131016 .